BERLIN PARTNER FUR WIRTSCHAFT UND TECHNOLOGIE GMBH

Their core work

Berlin Partner is Berlin's official economic development agency, operating as the city's gateway for business support, investment attraction, and technology transfer. Within H2020, they served as a regional node of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), delivering innovation management coaching and key account management services to SMEs participating in the SME Instrument and Horizon 2020 Accelerator. Their practical role is helping small companies professionalize their innovation processes — from structuring R&D strategy to navigating EU funding instruments and scaling commercially.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2014-2017), Berlin Partner focused on foundational SME coaching — helping companies improve innovation processes, management practices, and consulting on how to access H2020 funding. From 2019 onward, their work matured toward structured Key Account Management (KAM) services and the formal EIMC framework under the Horizon 2020 Accelerator, indicating a shift from general coaching to systematic, program-level SME support. Their latest participation in TALENT (2021) signals a broadening interest in workforce and HR challenges facing SMEs beyond pure innovation management.

Moving from ad-hoc innovation consulting toward structured, program-embedded SME acceleration services with growing interest in talent and workforce competitiveness.

How they like to work

Berlin Partner operates predominantly as a project coordinator (5 of 7 projects), reflecting its role as a regional anchor institution that initiates and manages EEN service delivery rather than joining others' consortia. Their 12 unique partners across 8 countries suggest moderate network breadth, consistent with EEN's pan-European structure. When they do participate rather than lead (INNOLABS, TALENT), they join as a regional business support partner contributing practical SME engagement expertise rather than research capacity.

Collaborated with 12 unique partners across 8 countries, primarily through EEN coordination activities. Their network reflects the Enterprise Europe Network's pan-European structure rather than deep bilateral research partnerships.

What sets them apart

Berlin Partner is not a research organization or consultancy — it is Berlin's official economic development agency with direct institutional ties to the city government and the regional business ecosystem. This gives them unmatched access to the Berlin-Brandenburg SME landscape and startup scene, making them a valuable partner for projects that need real-world SME engagement, pilot users, or regional deployment channels. For consortium builders, they bring practical commercialization support and a direct pipeline to innovative companies, not lab research.

Highlights from their portfolio

• InnoManage BB 20-21
  Largest single grant (EUR 189,999) and the culmination of their multi-year EEN innovation management mandate, covering the transition to the Horizon 2020 Accelerator framework.
• INNOLABS
  Their only cross-sector research participation project, bridging ICT, Health, BIO, and Medicine — a departure from their typical EEN service delivery role.
• TALENT
  Most recent project signaling strategic expansion beyond innovation management into talent attraction and HR competitiveness for SMEs.